Baseball: Good teams in Southern California Invitational

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The Southern California Invitational baseball tournament run by Simi Valley Royal begins March 4 and has lots of intriguing teams.

The gold division, made up of the large schools, starts out with a top opening game matching City Section Division I power Arleta against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Arleta’s coach, Edgar Maldonado, went to Notre Dame, so he’ll probably use his ace, Javy Lopez, against the Knights.

Another interesting opener has Santa Clarita Golden Valley taking on Newbury Park. Golden Valley Coach Scott Drootin is a former Newbury Park coach.

Among the teams in the tournament are Oxnard and Van Nuys Montclair Prep, which could be top 25 teams. Westchester, moving up from City Section Division II to Division I, is entered, which should give an early indication whether the Comets can compete against the best.

-- Eric Sondheimer